Modular outdoor kitchen systems

ABSTRACT

An outdoor kitchen and a kit for producing an outdoor kitchen including a number of rails, each having the same cross sectional dimensions. The end of each rail includes a number of aligned rivet holes spaced in a pattern on at least two sides of the ends of each rail. Connectors join the rails to form modules. Each connector includes a clamp end that can be secured across the width of a rail and a clip end that can be secured over the end of a rail. The clamp and clip ends each have a number of counter sunk rivet holes arranged on diagonals. The clamp and clip connectors allow the connectors to be secured over the end of one rail and secured across the width of a second rail, thereby attaching together two rails. The counter sunk holes allow simple rivet assembly having a flush surfaces for face and top mounting.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to devices adaptable for use inconstruction of outdoor kitchens.

BACKGROUND

Outdoor cooking is a popular pastime of numerous enthusiasts. Portableoutdoor gas or wood grills or smokers have been used for a number ofyears for backyard cooking. Such devices are adequate for cooking foodbut they have a number of drawbacks. They usually include minimal, ifany, stable surfaces needed for food preparation. Without such surfaces,the cook will either prepare items indoors or attempt to use patiotables or similar structures as an ad hoc surface on which to preparefood. In addition, because a portable outdoor gas grill does not allowfor refrigeration, items which must be kept cold are either refrigeratedin doors, or kept in a cooler on ice near the grill.

One solution to this problem is to create an outdoor grill system thatcould include both a grill, work surfaces, storage compartment, arefrigerator if desired, and other features. A number of outdoorkitchens have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub.2004/0065313 discloses a modular outdoor kitchen comprised of a numberof weather resistant modules. The modules are releasably connectedtogether, allowing assembly and configuration. A number of the outerfaces include panels to provide a weather resistant outer surface.

U.S. Pat. App. Pub. 2005/0133018 discloses a method and system forconstructing a grill island or support structure. This structureincludes modular units, which may be configured to hold the grill,enclose a refrigerator, store a trash bin or storage drawers, or beadapted for other purposes. Each modular unit includes a frame made upof interconnecting elements defining an open interior and a coveringextending over the frame, generally to create a face and a top. A numberof these modular units are connected together to form a unitarystructure, such as a grill island.

It is a feature of the invention to provide a frame for outdoor kitchenswhich is simple to assemble, can be assembled from a kit, requiresminimal different types of parts and allows simplified creation of levelsurfaces for attaching faces and tops.

SUMMARY

The above desired results have been achieved through one or more modulesfor outdoor kitchens and a kit for producing these modules. Each moduleincludes a number of rails. Each rail has an identical cross sectionaldimension and a regular pattern of rivet holes at least the end of eachrail section. The identical cross section allows a single type ofconnector to attach the rails together. The connectors are designed tosecure together two or three different rails. Each of the connectors hasa clamp end, which extends across the width of a rail, and a clip endwhich fits over the end of a rail. The connectors include a number ofcountersunk rivet holes, allowing the connectors to be secured to anumber of rails and retain a flush surface across the rail. This allowsa face or top to be mounted onto a module constructed from these rails.One module may be a corner sections module, which may use one or moretypes of corner braces for additional reinforcement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an outdoor kitchen, showing a gas grillinstalled in one module and 2 number of the modules having a front andtop installed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one module cube of an outdoor kitchen.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one module cube including a bar counter.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one corner module having a bar counter.

FIG. 5 is a perspective bottom view of a connector.

FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of a first embodiment of a cornerbrace.

FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of a second embodiment of a cornerbrace.

FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of a third embodiment of a cornerbrace.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIG. 1, an L-shaped outdoor kitchen having a partialbar counter is shown. A first module cube is a section is comprised ofrails 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, and 28. These rails aresecured by connectors to form a cube. For example, connector 30 securestogether rails 14, 18, and 24. In a similar manner, connector 32 securesrails 12, 14, and 15 and connector 34 secures together rails 16, 18, and20. Rail 14 forms the lower front cross bar. In some instances, thiscross bar can be excluded from the design to accommodate insertion ofappliances like trash receptacles or refrigerators which require groundlevel clearance.

Once this corner cube module is assembled it may be attached to adjacentmodule 40. Such modules may be of a standardized height and width toallow standard size appliances to fit into the outdoor kitchen counteror island built from these modules. Module 40 is joined to an adjacentmodule which holds gas grill 42. This module is shown having an attachedface 50 and counter top 52. This face and counter top may be selectedfrom commercially available materials, such as granite, slate, butcherblock wood, or other commercially available materials. The countertopsmay be attached in the conventional manner, the same way as indoorkitchen countertops.

The illustrated outdoor kitchen includes corner module 44, and barcounter modules 47, 48 including bar counter 46. All of the modules maybe assembled using rails having a single cross sectional diameter. Inaddition, only the corner module requires braces while all the othermodules require only a uniform connector. This simplicity makes thedevice simpler and cheaper to manufacture and assemble.

With reference to FIG. 2, a module is illustrated. This is a simpleconstruction, and can be sold either as a kit for self assembly, as acompleted module, or even as a prefab outdoor kitchen. The moduleconsists of rails 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, and 82.These rails are made of galvanized steel or other suitable materials.These are joined together by connectors 90 a-90 h. For example,connector 90 g secures together rails 60, 80 and 82. Diagonally spacedrivet holes 94 match to holes at the end of rail 80, diagonally spacedholes 92 match to holes at the end of rail 82 and diagonally spacedholes 96 and 98 match to holes at the end of rail 60. Each of the railshas an identical cross sectional diameter and a regular (to track claimlanguage?) pattern of holes at the end of each member section. Holes 60a allow a connector to be secured using counter sunk rivets at one endof the rail and holes 60 b allow a connector to be secured at a secondend.

Each rail is U-shaped in cross section. This cross section is the samefor each rail, simplifying manufacturing and assembly. The rails have awidth w and a depth d. As seen with rails 74, 78, 80, and 82, the railsare oriented such that the internal space within the module is greatest.The illustrated cube is assembled using rails of three differentlengths. Four rails of each length are required.

With reference to FIG. 3, a module 100 is shown having a bar counter.The module 100 is similar to the module of FIG. 2. The bar counter ismade of rails that have the same cross-sectional dimensions as the railsof FIG. 2. In addition, all of the connectors are the same connectorsused in FIG. 2. One difference between the module of FIG. 2 and themodule of FIG. 3 is that rear rails 118 a and 118 b are longer than theheight of the front rails, instead extending to the top of the barcounter. Connector 111 attaches across the width of rail 118 a, allowingcoupling to rail 115. Connector 114 a couples rail 102 a to crossbarrail 115. Similarly, on the other side connector 114 b is coupled torail 102 b. These upright rails are then coupled to rail 120 byconnectors 104 and 106, which respectively also allow attachment torails 110 and 122. At the rear of the bar counter, rail 108 is securedby connectors 116 and 122. As in the other modules, a face may besecured to the front and sides of the module if desired, and a topsecured to the top of the module, as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, thebar counter could also have a mounted a top and a bar counter face. Amodified version of this module could be used for the grill.

With reference to FIG. 4, a corner module 130 with a bar counter isshown. For most modules created using the rails, only a single type ofconnector (the connector shown in FIG. 5) is required. For theillustrated module, three types of corner braces are used. For example,the orientation of the rails illustrated by rails 5, 7, and 9 allow thethree rails to be held by the single connector 3. Rail 7 is held by theclip end of connector 3 and rails 5 and 9 are held by the clamp sectionof connector 3. However this is not possible unless the width of the tworails joined by the connector clamp end are oriented such that theirwidths extend across the connector clamp width, as is the case withrails 5 and 9. However, if the rails are in the orientation of theadjoining of rails 5, 137 and 133 at the top front corner of the module,only two rails may be joined by connector 135, namely rails 5 and 137.Corner brace 157 is used to join rails 5 and 137. As shown in FIG. 6,this corner brace includes two clamps oriented at right angles to allowsecuring to the ends of two rails. Corner braces 146, 165, and 167 aresimilar braces.

Referring again to FIG. 4, two additional types of corner braces areused. Corner brace 144 allows two perpendicular rails 134 and 132 to bejoined to each other at the abutting ends of the rails. Similarly,corner brace 145 allows rails 151 and 136 to be joined to each other.These corner braces are shown in FIGS. 8 and 7 respectively.

The rest of the rails 131 a, 131 b, 137, 133, 138, 153, 132, 134, 136,160, 169, and 151 are attached together using connectors 143, 154, 135,161, 163, 148 150, 152, 159, 162, and 142 as illustrated. This creates amodule for an outdoor kitchen as shown in FIG. 3, but one in which thebar counter top fits into a corner. Again, for the majority of themodules, only a single type of connector is required.

With respect to FIG. 5, a connector of the type used in FIGS. 1-4 isillustrated. This connector includes a clamp section 170 and a clipsection 172. This clamp section 170 can be defined as having two openends and being sufficiently long (as shown by the bracket) that itsnugly fits across the width of the rail (width w in FIG. 2). The clipsection 172 fits over the end of a rail, meaning that the measurement ofbracketed length 175 is the width of a rail (width w in FIG. 2). Therivet holes 176, 174 and 178 are arranged on diagonals and are countersunk. Thus, when the connector is secured to a rail using rivets, therivets are still flush with the surface of the connector.

FIG. 6 shows a corner brace including two clamps allowing attachment ofthe brace across the width of two rails. The two clamps have aperpendicular arrangement. Tabs 180 and 182 are opposite each other andhave diagonal rivet holes 180 a and 182 a. In a similar manner, face 186and tab 184 have rivet holes 186 a and 184 respectively.

Two additional types of corner braces are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. InFIG. 7, two perpendicular, outward facing sets of tabs, 194 and 196, and190 and 192, are the attachment points for this corner brace. Countersunk rivet holes 190 a, 192 a, 194 a, and 196 a allow attachment of thebrace to rails. The corner brace 8 shown in FIG. 8 has two sets ofperpendicular, inward facings tabs to allow the brace to act as a cornerbrace. These tabs set 200, 204 attaches to one rail and tab set 202, 206attaches to a second rail. Counter sunk rivet holes 200 a, 202 a, 204 a,and 206 a allow the brace to be secured to the rails.

The illustrated modules for making an outdoor kitchen allows simpleassembly of steel frames, which provide a durable structure forconstructing outdoor kitchens. These kitchen counters may be constructedas a counter, an island, or other configuration. It may be in a L shape,a U-shape or as a line counter. The kitchen may be constructed to hold agas grill, an under-the-counter refrigerator, a trash receptacle,drawers or cabinets for storage or other selected kitchen components.The steel or other material used for the frame is strong and durable. Avariety of different counter tops and faces could be placed on the topand front of the cabinets.

The present frames could be used in a number of ways. The variousmodules could be assembled off site and sold as completed units. Theunits could be sold either with face and tops attached or without, andeither as pre-fabricated modules to be joined together or as a singular,ready to use unit. Alternatively, the modules could be assembledon-site. The fact that relatively few different parts are used wouldallow for simple and rapid on-site assembly.

1. A frame kit for outdoor unit comprising: a plurality of rails, eachrail having equal cross sectional dimensions and each having a railrivet hole positioned in a regular pattern, at least some of which areproximate to each end of each frame member; and a plurality ofconnectors that each secure together two or more rails, wherein eachconnector includes a clamp end and a clip end, and wherein at least twosides of said clamp end and two sides of said clip end include countersunk, diagonally offset holes that mate with frame member rivet holes.2. The kit of claim 1, wherein said kit further includes corner braces.3. The kit of claim 1, wherein said kit includes multiple types ofcorner braces.
 4. The kit of claim 2, wherein said corner braces includeholes on directly opposite tabs of said corner braces.
 5. The kit ofclaim 2, wherein said plurality of rails include bar counter rails. 6.An outdoor unit comprising: a plurality of rails, each rail have equalcross sectional dimensions and each having a rail rivet hole positionedin a regular pattern, proximate to each end of each rail; a plurality ofidentical connectors that each secure together two rails, wherein eachconnector includes a clamp end and a clip end, and wherein at least twosides of said clamp end and two sides of said clip end include countersunk, diagonally offset holes that mate with rail rivet holes whereinsaid clamp end of each connector is clamped across the width of a railand said clip end is secured over one end of a rail; and a plurality ofrivets each secured through one connector counter sunk rivet hole andone rail rivet hole, wherein said rivets are secured through saidcounter sunk connector rivet hole such that said rivet is flush with aconnector face surface.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein aconfiguration of said unit includes a corner module.
 8. The device ofclaim 6, wherein a configuration of said unit includes a bar counter. 9.The device of claim 6, wherein said unit also includes a plurality ofcorner braces affixed to a plurality of rails by rivets.